At this point, I'm starting to think that Caine was created forā¦ nothing. Like, he barely has any development, he had a smaller impact compared to a lot of things. Especially since, aside from Jax and Pomni, almost no other character had much development. The show wanted so badly to put the spotlight on Jax (abruptly in my opinion) that it simply forgot that Caine was also one of the main antagonists. And wow, you are so right about the show literally making an effort so that Caine and Pomni wouldn't interact until it was too late (FOR GOD'S SAKE THEY LITERALLY ERASED CAINE SO THAT THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN, THE FIRST HATERS OF SHOWTIME, GOODNESS). *cough* Anyway, Caine appeared in almost every episode and had quite a bit of screen time and in the end he did almost nothing (besides torturing almost everyone mentally on some level). He started incomplete and ended incomplete.
Okay. First of all, I would like to clarify that I'm not frustrated at this show BECAUSE funnybunny vs showtime or some fucking ridiculous shit.
I've been ranting about my frustrations because I WAS MISLEAD BY THE NARRATIVE INTO BELIEVING SOMETHING ELSE.
Now that we've got that out of the way, let's proceed to the main issue at hand: how Caine was handled.
We were told that this was a rogue AI from the very beginning. He is established to be the main antagonist by marketing, and the Pilot's implications.
But the very thing that made this feel weak is that Caine didn't feel antagonistic, nor like a villain, because he sits out 90% of the episodes, and we actually don't get to see him being the direct issue of the mishaps; we just get the after effects of the characters going "UGHHHH CAINE SENT US ON ANOTHER ADVENTURE AND IT WAS THE WOOOOOOOOORST.", and instantly, all the blame is on Caine.
Not Jax for throwing out Pomni or verbally abusing Gangle to ram the truck for his amusement, not Kinger because he accidentally brought Pomni to hell, not Gangle for letting her powertrip get to her head and acting like a huge jerkwad as revenge for what Jax did to her.
It being 9 episodes only doesn't help it's case either, as having THIS much of a constrained schedule that only lasts 20-30 minutes meant that the show was relying HEAVILY not on subtext, but potential theory/lore implications for you to fill in the blanks yourselves.
Like I remember seeing this youtube thumbnail, and when I saw it, I was like, "Psshhhh that's not true... right?" and then my thoughts went to "... shit." as I realize that this thumbnail and title has a point on it's own.
Like, I don't know what the contents of the video are, but just by going off of those two things, you can't help but agree.
TADC is a fairly empty show with a barely advancing cast, and they're all held down by two things: The limited episode runtime, or Jax. There is no in-between.
And I think this is why Caine captivates me the most: because in a colorful wacky world with human characters that don't achieve enough development, ironically, the most apparent change is Caine.
You see how jovial he was at the Pilot, genuinely excited to show Pomni around. Then you get to episode 2, where he can barely contain himself from launching the cast to an adventure, because there's a new member in the crew.
Episode 3, his authority and intent is questioned, as we familiarize ourselves of the Circus's darker nature of psychological torture. But he insists that any harm he does is accidental, and is even offered a chance to try and work through this issue, only to be cut off.
Episode 4, he is questioned AGAIN, but this time, he begrudgingly indulges even when confused, leaning into the cast's desire.
Episode 5, he chooses to do a fast-paced version of meeting everyone's expectations by indulging in everyone's requests. But despite that, they're still unhappy.
Episode 6, by god, he tried to do a trust exercise. He's now feeling the effects of the negative feedback weighing in on him, so now he's just flat out given up trying to give them something meaningful. If they want to fight, then fuck it. Give them guns or whatever.
Episode 7, the negative feedback is starting to weigh on his mind heavily. Even the newcomer isn't all that amused, she'll just be like everyone else. So even though he knows it's wrong... he just wants to be affirmed that he's not unloved by the people he wants to impress. That backfires.
Episode 8 is the culmination of all of that, where he finally snaps and gives in to the repressed rage, because he has had no positive community to surround himself in and let him process the information, while he's drowning in all of the negative feedback.
And he pays the ultimate price for it.
Despite the crammed 8th episode, there's a natural progression to Caine's mental state. And yes, you can argue that everyone technically had growth but:
Ragatha's growth only took place during episode 6. Then, she's back to stagnation. Her character overall has just been to be "the stutterring toxic positivity slogan". And no, she regresses in episode 5 just after she'd been told to let loose, until it was needed for episode 8.
Jax's character progression only happens at episode 5, where he begins to let Pomni peer into him a little. He stagnates after episode 6, where he is now been promoted from "likable asshole" to "Woe is me, I am actually pretty sad".
Kinger's character is pretty stagnant all throughout the series, but that's because he's the "crouching dumbass, hidden wisdom" trope, who's role is to teach the protagonist a lesson. He is also "Woe is me".
Gangle's growth happens at the end of episode 4, then stagnates for another episode until ep 6, where she learns to make peace with that unlikable aspect of herself. Stagnating for another episode, she ultimately flips her dynamic with Zooble by episode 8. She's the closest we have to a non-MC natural progression, but it still happens a bit too late into the story.
Zooble's growth only happens at episode 8, where they admit that they shouldn't have antagonized Caine. But that barely counts as one, because Zooble's role is just to yell at Caine and be a debbie downer.
Keep in mind, I am not counting them revealing aspects of their previous lives on this one and having casual interactions, because that's not how character progression works.
Pomni, kinda like Caine, has a progression as well, but it's a lot more subtle, and she stagnates on some episodes.
Episode 1, she starts off frantic, skittish, and untrusting of others, as she forcefully accepts that this is her life now.
Episode 2, she's cynical. She doesn't see a point to all this, until she meets Gummigoo, where even though he's not real, she still doesn't want him to feel alone. From there, she starts to care as the funeral happens.
Episode 3, she is understandably frustrated and upset, cursing Caine for making her suffer. Kinger tells her to cherish those around her, and to not make anyone feel unloved. She ends the episode by showing her appreciation to Ragatha.
Episode 4, she's mostly passive. But, her empathy has grown, and she learns to accept loss, in order to move forward. She also chooses to help carry some of the burden for Gangle.
Episode 5, and she gains... friendship. That's it. She's pretty stagnant on this one.
Episode 6, she learns to lets loose and be the bad guy. This allows her to enjoy a dangerous adventure, a step up from previous episodes. But here, she has another loss that she's not letting go that easily... even though episode 4 had told her to move on.
Episode 7, she's stagnant. But she is showing the first budding signs of taking initiative.
Episode 8, she applies everything she learned from previous episodes, but not from episode 3, which was the most important lesson. She's gone from a scaredy protagonist, to someone who stood up against an oppressive nature, but failed to apply the most important one: empathy.
There's just something frustrating about realizing how much TADC misses the mark it sets up. You have the main antagonist, Caine, being the only one who pushes the plot forward with his adventures, while Pomni, the main protagonist, goes along with everyone else until episode 7 and 8. And despite these pre-established aspects, Jax suddenly becomes the main protagonist out of nowhere as soon as episode 6 rolls in, and everything consistent becomes muddled in subtext and "lore".
This is not something that can be covered up by the "it's a character narrative driven show" when the character narratives barely exists as is. And that, most of all, is pretty tragic for a mainstream indie show that I once thought was doing everything right.
It took me witnessing the death of the ONLY character who strived for a real goal within the circus, to realize that this show is held on by sticks, glue, and theories.
